KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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Critical success factors framework for enhancing the sustainability of small and medium-sized contractors in Namibia
Get PDFThe sustainability of small and medium-sized contractors (SMCs) is vital, considering the critical role they play in socio-economic development globally. SMCs in Namibia have been consistently grappling with high failure rates over the years, largely due to a dearth of robust policy frameworks to guide SMC development and sustainability in the country. This study investigates the critical success factors (CSFs) for SMCs’ sustainability in Namibia. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected from 60 purposively selected construction industry participants, comprising owner-managers of contracting firms, policymakers, and construction professional consultants. Interviews were conducted with the participants, using a semi-structured interview tool. Data were then analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings revealed six CSFs, including public and private institutions’ collaborative support, skills training, an enabling construction business environment, access to adequate and affordable finance, consistent work opportunities, and firm owner’s entrepreneurial skills. The identified CSFs culminated in the development of a framework for guiding the development of SMCs in Namibia. By incorporating the six CSFs in the framework, SMCs could be effectively developed and sustained. The framework may assist policymakers in making fundamental policy reforms and developing appropriate and context-specific interventions to sustain SMCs in Namibia and similar contexts
Living walls: Upscaling their performance as green infrastructure
Get PDFLiving wall systems can provide biophilic value and ecosystem services. Despite their benefits and potential to mitigate global challenges such as cooling, air purification, sound absorption, and human well-being, their economic feasibility, resilience, maintenance, and sustainability impact on their application and use. This article gives an overview of a pragmatic study which synthesised the factors hampering LWSs’ performance as green infrastructure (GI) and analysed the performance of outdoor modular LWSs as GI. The study aims to establish criteria for selecting the most suitable LWSs as green infrastructure. Data capturing involved a mixed-method methodology. Local experts provided insight into local LWS typologies through questionnaires, which were analysed qualitatively. The six-month experimental study involved two selected LWSs of 4m2 each in extent on the University of Pretoria’s Future Africa campus in Pretoria, in South Africa’s Gauteng province. Variables included minimum and maximum daily temperatures, relative humidity, precipitation, soil temperature, water content and electrical conductivity, leaf biomass yield, and plant stress. Fresh and dry biomass yields with a calibrated laboratory balance was the primary performance indicator. Plant stress, the secondary performance indicator, was measured by chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. Experimental data were statistically analysed. The results favour locally produced, low-technology, outdoor modular LWSs with limited, robust, lightweight, recycled components entailing uncomplicated assembly. Systems must involve low-technology irrigation. The LWS position should consider the plant crops’ light requirements and pollution. Pots should receive limited sun exposure and have a soil volume of 3 litres and a minimum depth of 200mm
The right to housing and the pan-African city: Challenges of inclusivity and equity – A review of four African countries
Get PDFThe right to housing is a fundamental human right, but the paucity of context-specific legislation and policies on the right to housing makes housing inaccessible to a significant number of people residing in African cities. This review article explores the challenges of inclusivity and equity in the provision of housing within the framework of the pan-African city to provide legal frameworks for policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders committed to realising the right to housing and the vision of the pan-African city. Specifically, it focuses on four diverse African nations – South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria – for insights into the multifaceted nature of housing rights. The article begins with a review of the key concepts (housing, pan-African city, equity, inclusivity, policy planning), followed by a review of the challenges of inclusivity and equity in each of the selected countries within the context of the right to housing and the pan-African city. The article then reviews the selected countries’ efforts to address the challenges within the framework of relevant international human rights instruments and the various countries’ constitutional, legislative, and policy frameworks. It is concluded that the right to housing in the pan-African city remains an ambitious goal, with numerous challenges in achieving inclusivity and equity. It is recommended that African countries pay more attention to the right to housing within the pan-African city, emphasising the need for collaborative efforts to ensure access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing. This can be done through information and knowledge sharing, joint infrastructure development, cross-border collaborations, technology transfer, and regional financing mechanisms, among others
Regional policy in the Southern African Development Community edited by Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen
No full textThis book analyses regional development policy or the lack thereof in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which forms a key trading bloc on the African continent as well as the Global South. It explores the main attributes relevant to the formulation of regional policy in terms of socio-economic policies as well as spatial planning instruments. Further, it integrates macro and sectoral policy frameworks and applies the goals and objectives thereof practically through the appropriate and timely application of spatial targeting instruments within the SADC as a developing region. The focus of the research is to reflect on the social, economic, environmental, and political arguments through a focused analysis of relevant planning instruments, policies, and barriers in terms of the regional policy goals for the SADC region. The book provides insight into the role of the SADC in the context of regional development, analyses regional policy on a national, regional, and continental scale with reference to the SADC, and evaluates the inherent potential in the regional economy as well as barriers to regional development. It identifies gaps in the existing regional policy framework of the region and its constituent members and makes recommendations for improved regional policy frameworks and their implementation. The multi-authored book by writers from both the Global North and the Global South, edited by Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen, has twelve chapters, including the introduction and a signing-off chapter. The book is targeted at scholars, researchers, and students studying international trade as well as regional and economic development, and urban and regional planning and policy. It will also be a useful resource for policymakers, as it provides practical policy guidelines for improved regional planning towards a comprehensive regional policy framework.
The use of empirical data in communal discernment and decision-making processes in the Dutch Reformed Church
Get PDFThis article endeavours to present an overview of communal discernment processes developed in the Dutch Reformed Church over the span of two decades. The focus falls on the use of empirical data in these processes. The DRC research team, under the leadership of Prof. Kobus Schoeman, amassed a rich repository of data on the church and its congregations. This data, when used within a framework of discernment, can play an invaluable role in the development of a theology from below, where the theological foundations and concrete reality of the church’s context are taken into account. Discernmentprocesses then provide frameworks wherein God’s call and preferred future for the church as well as its identity can be discovered. The processes that are developed are becoming increasingly more precise and user friendly. This is important because discernment processes can be dauntingly complex and protracted. By paying attention to discernment processes developed in the ecumenical world, the self-developed processes can be enriched and corrected where necessary
Ecumenical ecclesiology as a tool for township congregations to facilitate transformation of the (South) African society
Get PDFSouth Africa is experiencing a proliferation of ecumenical church organisations since the advent of democratic South Africa. Many of these organisations occur in the townships in the form of minister fraternals, some of whom are affiliated to a larger and higher ecumenical body such as SACC and others. Nearly every town in South Africa has a minister fraternal. The goals of these minister fraternals are fellowship, reaching out to each other, and societal involvement to deal with social ills in partnership with other societal structures such as the state and business sectors. This study aims to explore how congregations in the townships (in Mangaung, Bloemfontein, and Qwaqwa), through their local ecumenical organisations, function together to facilitate the transformation of their identity and mission. This empirical study implements a critical theory approach to analyse sources and data used in this study
The induction process of novice teachers in primary schools: experiences of school management teams
Get PDFThe need for induction is to prepare newly appointed teachers for the classroom and to adapt to the school’s environment and culture. Schools approach teacher induction differently. The study argues that, if novice teachers are expected to perform their duties optimally, support structures should be in place to enhance the quality of their work. This study explored how quintile one to three primary schools’, School Management Teams members experienced the implementation of the induction process of novice teachers. SMT members are expected to induct novice teachers successfully. A sample of nine SMT members from three quintile one to three primary schools was purposively selected. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed employing thematic analysis technique. In this regard, all relevant ethical considerations were adhered to. Three of the SMT members demonstrated that, the induction process is not implemented effectively due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of how it should be implemented. Six SMT members revealed that the induction process is not given serious attention and the novice teachers are unintentionally left to swim or sink. Furthermore, challenges such as, inadequate time for induction activities, work overload, interruptions due to other administrative activities, unscheduled workshops and meetings, and attending to disciplinary matters concerning learners and staff, contribute towards poor implementation of the induction process of novice teachers. Therefore, it is recommended that, the DoE should develop a standardised induction policy that should assist all schools in following consistent structured procedures on how to induct novice teachers. Furthermore, District officials should monitor the induction process of novice teachers.
 
Pedagogic and programmes change and the enhancement of relevance of state higher education system in Cameroon
Get PDFThis study was designed to examine pedagogic, and programme change and the enhancement of relevance of state higher education system in Cameroon. The study was guided by two objectives which examine how change in teaching methods and change in programmes enhances the relevance in state higher education system in Cameroon. This is supported by the Improvement Theory of Benthum, Gulikers, Jong and Mulder (2011) who holds that the world has evolved and that the type of university education, skills and knowledge in the past can no longer effectively serve the needs of the modern era/labour market (relevance). The concurrent mixed-methods research designed specifically the concurrent triangulation design was adopted for the study. Both close and open-ended questions for lecturers and an interview guide for university administrators (HODs) were the instruments used for the study. The sample consist of 1,915 lecturers, and 40 administrators (HODs) from the universities of Buea, Yaounde II, Douala, Bamenda, Yaounde I, Dschang, Maroua and Ngaoundere. The purposive and stratified sampling techniques was adopted for the study. Data from close ended questions was analysed using SPSS 23.0, with the aid of descriptive and inferential statistical tools while open ended questions and the interview were analysed thematically. The Spearman’s rho was used to test the lone research hypotheses formulated in the study. Findings shows that most of the lecturers (73.0%) agree that there is a need for change in teaching methods to enhance relevance of Higher Education and most of the lecturers (74.7%) equally agreed that there is a need for change in universities programmes to enhance relevance of Higher Education. Hypothetically, there is a significant, positive and moderate relationship between pedagogic change and the enhancement of relevance of state Universities (Rvalue 0.246**, p-value < 0.001 < 0.05) implying that changes in pedagogy will contribute to the enhancement of higher education relevance. It is recommended that; workshops and capacity building programmes should constantly be organized to improve on the pedagogical competences of academic staff. Internship/ placement, field work and industrial training should be actively incorporated in the curriculum for each degree programme where applicable while effective follow up, supervision and monitoring should be accompanied
Strategies for sustaining teachers’ engagement by heads of departments in higher education institutions in Cameroon: Insights from Ubuntu
Get PDFHigher education institutions in Cameroon have undergone a major transformation (since the 1993 reforms) with a major objective to improve on the quality of graduates. However, concerns about leaders who are central to the implementation of these reforms have not been taken seriously. We live in a,multicultural context, especially in Cameroon with diverse cultures and national languages, thus the issue of leadership is relevant for organisational productivity. Premised on the basis that the quality of education depends on the quality of teachers, this paper presents heads of departments’ (HODs) perspectives on how their leadership practices sustain teachers’ engagement in higher education institutions in Cameroon grounded in the philosophy of Ubuntu. It is a qualitative study that involved interviews with heads of departments (n=63) from state and private HE institutions in Cameroon, where thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results revealed that HODs used five major strategies which focused on engaging teachers in the mission and vision of the institution, problem-solving, decision-making, shared responsibilities and staff development approaches. These strategies improved management, social capital and the capacity building of teachers